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Re: U.S. NRC proposes changes to shallow dose exposure limit



Am I correct in saying that "the effective shallow

dose equivalent (Hs) is the exposure of the skin or an

extremity from external sources of ionizing radiation

at a tissue depth of 7 mg/cm2 averaged over 1 cm2?"



Isn't this definition designed for radiation exposure

from sources which are external to (not in contact

with) the affected tissue?



Paul Shafer

--- Mike Lantz <mlantz33@CYBERTRAILS.COM> wrote:

> I think some of you know that I was on the NCRP

> committee that came up with the

> 10 cm2 limit.  I'm very happy with this value for

> hot particles as a limit for

> deterministic effects - especially as it is a

> unified limit of 50 rem for skin.

> There is far too much to talk about over Radsafe, so

> if you want to talk about

> how we came to 10 cm2 and its value, call me at 623

> 393 5200.  As an example, 1

> cm2 was never a biological endpoint from hot

> particles - it was equally

> arbitrary as most effects studied on pig

> irradiations were 1-2 mm2 from the

> betas.   However, many particles are stepped on and

> attached to shoes - one

> station just encountered this problem.  And these

> particles expose larger areas

> than 1 cm2 from the photons.

> 

> We discussed and wrote about the stochastic effects

> from hot particles and

> determined them to be negligible, of course.

> 

> Mike Lantz, CHP

> 

> glen.vickers@EXELONCORP.COM wrote:

> 

> > I've been away from skin dose for a couple of

> years, but here are a couple

> > issues I can think of right away.

> >

> > I believe the organ weighting factors assume

> uniform irradiation of the

> > entire organ and that will essentially never be

> the case for skin

> > contamination events.

> >

> > If they're thinking about changing the rules, then

> they need to also think

> > about practical ways to calculate the quantities. 

> Right now, if a person

> > had varying levels of contamination on a planar

> source, the tech would take

> > the highest direct reading with a 15.5 cm^2 GM

> probe and we'd calculate that

> > as a 15.5 cm^2 source over a 1cm^2 receptor.  

> Some might concentrate that

> > reading as a 1 cm^2 source over a 1 cm^2 receptor,

> but that bumps up the SDE

> > by about a factor of 15 for Co-60.  I'd like to

> see some additional guidance

> > about assumptions of the source size, because you

> can't really measure, and

> > activity/probe area.  With the new guidance should

> we take the reading/15.5

> > cm^2 and apply that activity/cm^2 as a 10 cm^2

> source over a 10 cm^2

> > receptor?  Different approaches yield signficantly

> different answers.

> >

> > Why change to 10 cm?  The calculated doses will

> drop significantly.  Why not

> > just increase the limit over the same 1 cm^2 if we

> think we are overstating

> > the stochastic risks from planar sources?

> >

> > What about deterministic effects from hot

> particles?  The NRC's enforcement

> > guidance stated that a limit of 75 uCi-hr would be

> applied in addition to

> > the 50 rem SDE.  NRC (IE 90-48, NCRP 106)  Also 

> hot particle dose is not

> > SDE, but SD or hot particle dose.  The NRC needs

> to codify gudiance for

> > point and planar sources.  They did a good job

> with the enforcement

> > guidance, but now would be the time to address the

> issue appropriately.

> >

> > Glen Vickers

> >

> > > -----Original Message-----

> > > From: Sandy Perle [SMTP:sandyfl@EARTHLINK.NET]

> > > Sent: Thursday, July 12, 2001 9:58 AM

> > > To:   radsafe@list.vanderbilt.edu

> > > Subject:      Re: U.S. NRC proposes changes to

> shallow dose exposure limit

> > >

> > > > This is in keeping with the recommendations

> found in NCRP 130.

> > >

> > > While this proposal is an improvement, the NRC

> needs to move towards

> > > acceptance of dose weighting. The skin, being an

> organ, should be

> > > viewed as other organs are, and where there are

> weighting factor

> > > applied, if the NRC would accept the

> methodology, such as what is

> > > outlined in HPS N13.41-1997.

> > >

> > > In my opinion, it is still unrealistic and not

> logical to assign a

> > > SDE based on the highest 1 cm, 10 cm or whatever

> number of cm's one

> > > wants to consider, when in all practicality, the

> cumulative dose

> > > effect to the person is insignificant. Now, for

> very high dose

> > > particles, I can agree that averaging needs to

> be assessed. However,

> > > for the general population of workers, using the

> highest dose nees to

> > > be re-thought.

> > >

> > >

>

------------------------------------------------------------------------

> > > Sandy Perle                                  

> Tel:(714) 545-0100 / (800)

> > > 548-5100

> > > Director, Technical                          

> Extension 2306

> > >

> > > ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Service              

> Fax:(714) 668-3149

> > >

> > > ICN Pharmaceuticals, Inc.                    

> E-Mail:

> > > sandyfl@earthlink.net

> > >

> > > ICN Plaza, 3300 Hyland Avenue                

> E-Mail: sperle@icnpharm.com

> > >

> > > Costa Mesa, CA 92626

> > >

> > > Personal Website:

> http://www.geocities.com/scperle

> > > ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Website:

> http://www.dosimetry.com

> > >

> > >

>

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